READY. GET SET. GO.
JOY is NOW.
How?
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
and just say
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU GOD for _____________
And
THANK YOU GOD for _____________
And
THANK YOU GOD for _____________
And one more thing
THANK YOU GOD for _____________
Did I leave anything out?
Umm, yup!
Can you say
THANK YOU GOD
for this trial
&
THANK YOU GOD
for this illness
&
THANK YOU GOD
for the prodigal
&
THANK YOU GOD
for circumstances out of your control.
Hmm, not so easy,
because
JOY isn't THE TRIAL
&
JOY isn't THE ILLNESS
&
JOY isn't THE PRODIGAL
&
JOY isn't THE CIRCUMSTANCE.
Because
JOY is
a JESUS EXPERIENCE,
despite whatever
you are experiencing.
And to
GIVE THANKS,
when?
IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES!
Why?
FOR THIS IS GOD'S WILL FOR YOU IN CHRIST JESUS.
Hmm...
ALWAYS. CONTINUALLY. IN ALL.
Hmm...
Doesn't leave much room for anything else,
especially
because of the
GIVING THANKS "IN ALL" CIRCUMSTANCES
"IN ALL"~
when things are going good
GIVE THANKS.
When things are going bad,
GIVE THANKS.
When things are not going according to "my" plan,
GIVE THANKS.
It isn't about giving thanks "for" the circumstance
but
IN
the circumstance.
Why?
For it is GOD'S WILL.
If I & If you
GIVE THANKS
IN
the moment, no matter what the moment is,
then
GOD would be IN the moment,
changing the moment
because
Where HE IS~
HOPE IS
&
PEACE IS
&
JOY IS
&
LOVE IS~
no matter what the circumstance IS.
Easier said than done at times
when the going gets tough
&
when we don't feel like
GIVING THANKS.
But what if
we give
GOD
"that" moment
by
taking HIM for HIS WORD
and experience HIM like we have never experienced HIM before.
Sometimes the hardest step is just taking the step
to
BELIEVE HIM
when your world comes crashing down.
BUT HE PROMISES
to give us what we need in the moment of need~
HIS JOY~
and isn't a dose of HIS JOY what we really need?
What moment do you need to be thankful IN?
Therefore as we approach
THANKSGIVING DAY~
"Brothers and sisters,
whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things" (Philippians 4:8)
and
Let's
"Sing and make music from your heart to the LORD,
always giving thanks to GOD the FATHER
for everything,
IN the name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST"
(Ephesians 5:19-20)
so that we will be
JOYFUL ALWAYS
as we
PRAY CONTINUALLY
so that we can
GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
just because
GOD
has asked us to
so that HE will meet our hearts at a deeper level
where we will experience
HIS LOVE
that is so much greater than our circumstances.
Get Ready. Get Set. Go.
"COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS"
(listen to the song below)
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